0n the DN0/UNT German Order of Appearance, the 27th Panzer Division appears on the September I 1942 turn as a 9-10 armored division. However, to maintain historical accuracy, it should not be present at all.

Throughout history there are units whose origins and very existence are hazy. Unlike the other panzer divisions whose origins, compositions, employment, and fate are well documented, the 27th has been virtually unknown.

Most listings of the panzer divisions showing composition, etc., as in Scheibert's Kampf Und Untergang Det Deutsche Panzer Truppe 1939-1945, [1] do not mention the 27th. Duckert [2] shows the 27th being formed in Russia in the fall of 1942 and dissolved in early 1943. Others, including Sohms, [3] give the formation shown in Table 1.

The units identified in Table 1 have numbers from the series that were assigned to such units in the other panzer divisions, rather than being verified components of the 27th. It was probably on the basis of similar information that the GDW staff included the 27th in DN0/UNT.

Recently, Stanton, [4] writing in AFV-G2, has given a fuller history of the division based on divisional records which are contained on Microcopy T-315 at the National Archives.

The 27th was ordered formed September 1942 and activated October 1 near Voronezh in Russia. During September it was known as Kampfgruppe "Michalik" after Oberst Helmut Michalik who was its first commander. The original units were all taken from 22nd Panzer Division and III Abteilung, Panzer Artillery Regiment 140. Because of its ties to the 22nd Panzer Division, Kampfgruppe "Michalik" was also known as Panzer Brigade 22.

No date is given for its redesignation as the 27th Panzer Division. Under VII Army Corps and 2 Army the 27th was strengthened by addition of II Abteilung Artillery Regiment 51, Armee Panzerjager Abteilung 560, and Pioneer Abteilung 260. The designations of the artillery and support units were changed to 127 to fit a series used in other panzer divisions. This served to reinforce the illusion of two strong panzer divisions, the 22nd and 27th, while in reality there was only the 22nd with small reinforcements.

In November 1942, the Russians began the Stalingrad offensive, in the course of which both the 22nd and 27th Panzer Divisions were effectively destoyed. The 27th fought desperate rearguard actions between the Don and Donets in support of the Italian Eighth Army. By January 25, 1943, the division existed only as fragments fighting with other divisions. The remnants of the 27th Panzer Division were formally assigned to the 7th and 19th Panzer Divisions on February 9, 1943. The 27th was never reactivated.

The 9-10 counter for the 27th Panzer Division should be omitted from DN0/UNT. An adequate representation can be obtained by breaking the 22nd Panzer Division into its component regiments and adding existing independent anti-tank, artillery, and engineer battalions to one of the panzergrenadier regiments as shown in Table 2.

Footnotes